The US missile strike on a Syrian air base has been backed by Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps, who believes military action should have been taken four years ago

President Donald Trump, who blames Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad for the deaths from poison gas of at least 80 civilians in a rebel-held town, ordered the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Shayrat air base near Homs on Thursday night.

The air strike has been backed by the British Government, but has divided the Labour Party.

Mr Shapps said: “Anyone who saw the TV footage of children gassed in Syria should have little doubt that the US action against President Assad was absolutely right and proper.

“In my opinion, the fateful decision by Parliament not to intervene in 2013 with air strikes, during the earlier stage of this dreadful war, led to a catastrophic turn of events which included America delaying action, the Russians taking a proactive role and the enormous level of suffering and carnage that we have seen since.

“It’s an uncomfortable truth that it is sometimes better to act than to sit on our hands and do nothing.

“America was absolutely right to send an uncompromising message to Assad that he cannot use internationally banned chemical weapons with impunity.

“I fully support the US action and furthermore continue to believe that Parliament’s 2013 vote, which narrowly went against taking action earlier, has sadly costs the lives of untold numbers of people.”